Beast Taming: I Can Add Points

The next morning, at 6:01.

With the stress of preparing for the city league gone, and no opponents to train tirelessly to defeat, Su Zhi could finally enjoy sleeping in!

As if—

”Woof!”

Yu Bao activated Yellow Earth Wall, hoisting Su Zhi up from the bed. From afar, it looked like the blanket had bulged into a small tent.

Yu Bao was in a hurry.

He usually woke up at six on the dot, but today he was a whole minute late!

One minute! How many sets of Desert Concealment could he have practiced in that time?

’No, I have to punish myself. This will be a lesson. I’ll train for an extra hour today!’

Su Zhi: ”...”

’Oh well, at least I got to sleep in for one minute.’

”Woof, woof.”

”Alright, alright...” At Yu Bao’s urging, Su Zhi quickly got dressed.

The truth was, Su Zhi wasn’t very sleepy. Even though the city league was over, he was currently buzzing with excitement.

And when he saw the 0.40 Assignable Attribute Points, the smile in Su Zhi’s eyes grew even wider.

Yu Bao had overcome a powerful enemy and broken through his own limits. Rather than calling these Points a system reward, it was more like Yu Bao’s long-term efforts had finally borne fruit.

’Alright! Time to go crazy with these points!’

”Woof.”

Just as Su Zhi was about to give Yu Bao’s head a good ruffle, Yu Bao stretched out a paw and placed it on Su Zhi’s hand.

’Hold on, this matter cannot be rushed.’

Then, Yu Bao cupped his chin with one paw and started scribbling rapidly on the ground with the other.

’Is he doing mental math...?’ Su Zhi found himself torn between laughter and tears as he watched the little guy’s dead-serious expression.

”A-woof!”

After a moment of calculation, Yu Bao clapped his paws together, having reached a conclusion.

’0.27 to Perception, 0.10 to Intelligence, 0.06 to Constitution, and 0.04 to Agility.’

”Whoa, that’s so precise?”

Su Zhi raised his eyebrows, then asked curiously, ”But you just awakened Thick Earth Blessing. Shouldn’t you add more to Constitution to make the new Skill more effective?”

”A-woof, a-woof~” Yu Bao shook his head with profound meaning.

’You mortals fail to grasp the fundamental principles. That’s not how one allocates points.’

”A-woof.”

Yu Bao then patiently explained to him.

’Thick Earth Blessing might be a Skill that enhances Constitution, but what is its essence? It is the activation of the Earth Element.’

’In reality, all Skills, despite their endless variations, ultimately boil down to Energy and the Element itself.’

’Perception is the current meta!’

”So that’s how it is...” Su Zhi came to a sudden realization. But after seeing Yu Bao’s gratified gaze, his mouth twitched.

’For a moment, I have the strange feeling that *I’m* the Pet Beast.’

”Then what about the points for Agility and Constitution?”

”A-woof.” Yu Bao spread his paws in a shrug.

’Gotta be well-rounded. Constitution and Agility are still pretty important in close-quarters combat.’

”Then why did you add so much to Intelligence?”

”A-woof!”

Yu Bao’s gaze turned sharp.

’You can be poor in anything but wisdom!’

”Fine,” Su Zhi said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

’On second thought, it did make a lot of sense,’ he mused. ’As Yu Bao’s Intelligence increased, his slick moves became more and more frequent. That Sand King Cannon in the semifinals, for instance, had left him completely dumbfounded.’

Furthermore, Yu Bao turning himself into a Furious Sand Blade during the finals and flexibly applying Thick Earth Blessing to his other Skills were also things Su Zhi would never have thought of himself.

’I’ll just do what Yu Bao says!’

Su Zhi ruffled Yu Bao’s doggy head, this time with extra force, making the little guy dizzy.

The points were allocated accordingly—

[Pet Beast: Yu Bao (Yu Dian Dog)

Power: 1.22

Agility: 1.80

Intelligence: 1.88

Constitution: 1.30

Perception: 2.00]

[Real-time Energy Value: 1350]

No level-up special effects, no transformation. A true master’s path to power is just that unremarkable.

With the points allocated, Yu Bao’s Perception reached 2.00, the first attribute to achieve a 2x multiplier!

Yu Bao’s eyes snapped open.

’So this is what it feels like to get stronger?’

The moment the points were allocated, every speck of dust floating in the room became as familiar to him as his own organs.

He could perceive their existence, perceive their movements, and even perceive their... experiences.

He didn’t feel much of a change in his Agility and Constitution. It wasn’t that they hadn’t increased by a lot, but that the boost to his Perception was just too outstanding.

As for Intelligence—

Yu Bao nodded thoughtfully.

’I really am... developing the bearing of a Great Emperor.’

’And Su Zhi... he’s starting to look even more foolish.’

’Excellent. From now on, I am a Dog of great wisdom. My speech and behavior must be cultured and graceful...’

Just then, Su Zhi poked him. ”Yu Bao? Feel any different?”

”PANT PANT!”

’A chance to show off!’

Yu Bao’s eyes lit up, and with neither culture nor grace, he started tugging on Su Zhi’s pant leg, dragging him out the door...

·

Five minutes later, Su Zhi and Yu Bao arrived at the athletic field behind the Battle Hall.

Beast Taming Competition was considered a type of sport, so the City Battle Hall and the City Sports Arena were located next to each other.

Looking at the nearly empty field before him, Su Zhi sighed. He was supposed to be on vacation, yet he had woken up earlier than the morning exercisers.

”Woof!”

Yu Bao chose the long jump sandpit to demonstrate the results of his point allocation to Su Zhi.

”SWOOSH—”

Wind and sand filled the air as a Golden Light flickered.

Seeing the faint golden hue flickering before him, Su Zhi’s eyes lit up.

That was Furious Sand Blade, but on closer inspection, the sand at the blade’s edge shimmered with a faint golden color—the exact color the Earth Element takes on when activated by Thick Earth Blessing!

”Woof!” Yu Bao wagged his tail excitedly.

’Furious Sand Blade has high damage, but it falls short against opponents with high Defense Power. It’s a Skill that’s great at cutting down health, but lacks Armor Piercing.’

’In the semifinals, against Cotton’s Gravity Water Prison, the offensive power of Furious Sand Blade was greatly weakened. I did a lot of soul-searching after that.’

—And now, I present the dazzling debut of Furious Sand Blade 2.0: Armor Piercing Edition.

’With the Earth Element at its tip activated, Furious Sand Blade’s Armor Piercing Ability is greatly enhanced. I no longer have to worry about opponents using a Defensive Flow strategy.’

Yu Bao declared that he could even smash right through the wall of the sports arena!

”Holy crap!”

Seeing that Yu Bao was really about to try it, Su Zhi quickly stopped him. If he actually blasted a hole in the wall, selling both himself and Yu Bao wouldn’t be enough to cover the damages.

’This kid’s getting more and more reckless. He’s got a bright future ahead of him... in jail.’

”Yu Bao, is there more? You can’t have just this one new Skill, right?!”

Su Zhi started a new topic in an expectant tone.

Yu Bao nodded vigorously.

Immediately after, a faint yellow Light Array appeared, and a Yellow Earth Wall emerged from the ground...

...and then nothing.

Su Zhi tilted his head. ’I thought it would be enhanced with Thick Earth Blessing like Furious Sand Blade was, but it doesn’t look any different right now?’

”Woof.” Yu Bao waved a paw dismissively.

’Your thinking is too small.’

With a light wave of his paw, the Furious Sand Blade that had been hovering to one side shot out with a WHOOSH, instantly piercing through the Yellow Earth Wall.

’Talk about making and selling your own product...’ Su Zhi looked closely and this time, he saw a thin, faint golden layer inside the Yellow Earth Wall.

”You applied the Thick Earth Blessing to the inside?”

”PANT PANT!” Yu Bao nodded excitedly.

’If it’s just coated on the surface, once an enemy’s attack breaks through the reinforced layer, it can easily shatter the rest of the wall behind it.’

’But if it’s reinforced in the middle, an enemy’s attack actually has to penetrate a three-layer structure: the original wall, the reinforced layer, and the original wall again. The stress waves will reflect back and forth multiple times in the gaps, effectively reducing the attack’s damage.’

”...” Su Zhi’s jaw dropped.

’So all those points in Intelligence were for *this*??’

’It’s simply...’

’...Exactly what I wanted!’

”Beautifully done!”

Su Zhi quickly sat down beside him like an obedient Pet Beast. ”Got any other tricks up your sleeve? Like for Sand Shadow Guard or something?”

”A-woof!”

Yu Bao nodded and immediately summoned two Sand Shadow Guards. They had a look of pure, unadulterated stupidity in their eyes, looking utterly goofy.

’Hm, maybe that’s what makes the Sand Shadow Guards so hard to read.’

”So, what’s the difference from before?”

”Woof woof?” Realizing they were just ordinary Sand Shadow Guards, Yu Bao froze for a second.

’Why hasn’t it changed? This isn’t what I expected.’

”No rush, try again.”

”Woof woof...”

Yu Bao nodded, cupped his chin, and entered research mode...

·

At the entrance to the sports arena, Selena, with her ice-blue long hair and a beige trench coat, walked slowly onto the field with her hands in her pockets.

’My flight isn’t until this afternoon, so I still have a whole morning to kill in this little city.’

’Of course, I could just ride my Pet Beast and fly back, but that would mess up my hair, so I’ll pass.’

Although she was from Shanghai, Selena was actually quite fond of this small mountain city.

Huai City’s economy wasn’t great, the pace of life was slow, and the stress was low. The people and Pet Beasts here had a ”vitality” that was hard to find in big cities.

But in the last two years, Huai City had been trying more and more to emulate the big cities. The economy hadn’t developed much, but the original human warmth was fading...

Thinking of this, Selena sighed in frustration, enjoying the morning breeze that was hers alone.

But when she noticed the activity in the distance, the Cold and Refined Beauty’s gaze shifted—

’So, an early-rising tamer and their Envoy’s Pet were also here to share the morning breeze.’

’Isn’t that the champion of the high school division from the city league? Still insisting on training early the day after winning it all?’

’There aren’t many Beast Tamers who can push their Pet Beasts like that.’

Selena’s lips curled into a slight smile, a flicker of interest in her eyes.

’My flight isn’t until the afternoon, and I’ve got nothing better to do this morning.’

’It’s a rare chance to have some fun with an up-and-comer!’

So Selena went over to Su Zhi. ”Ahem. Hey there, big shot. I’m just a newbie, mind if I have a little Pet Beast spar with you?”

Su Zhi: ”...?”

’It reminded him of that meme: a general covered in medals tells a new recruit, ”I’m a newbie,” and the recruit replies, ”Newbie, my ass!”’

’She was just on TV yesterday as a special guest Alliance Member! A newbie? Yeah, right!’

Seeing Su Zhi’s unresponsive expression, Selena blinked, realizing her act hadn’t landed. So, she dropped it.

”Hello. I’m Selena of the Flying Shadow Alliance. You know, the lousy guest commentator from yesterday who was so pessimistic about your chances.”

Selena gracefully extended her right hand. ”It’s an honor to meet you, you brilliant young man.”

”No, no...” Su Zhi hurriedly shook her hand, only to be startled by its coldness.

Even though Selena was smiling as she spoke to him, her frosty aura hadn’t diminished in the slightest. Plus, it was summer, yet this woman was wearing a trench coat.

’The very definition of an ice queen, dot jpeg.’

”My flight is this afternoon, so I have some free time this morning. Spar a round with me.”

As Selena spoke, a purple Beast Taming Light Array was already glowing beside her.

”You’re attending the summer camp anyway, and there will be sparring sessions with the leading Alliance Members there. Just think of this as a little warm-up. How about it?”

With that, an angular Pet Beast shaped like a block of ice leaped out of the purple Light Array—

[Pet Beast: Xue Ao (Cold Realm Ice Spine)

Attribute: Ice Element

Race: Middle Elite Race

Real-time Energy Value: 1401]

”Don’t worry, I’m using my newly contracted third pet. Your ’gameplay experience’ won’t be too bad.”

·

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